Another cheddar

[passedpawn]

Just another cheddar. Made it last Saturday. Mostly white, but I added some annatto extract to give it just a bit of color (that I extracted myself from seeds).

Note the change in color of the rind over a week. Also, you can see the shape has changed slightly due to the drying out process. I didn't press this one as long or hard as my last cheddar, so it had some moisture to give up.

It's a 3 gallon batch. It weighs 2.5#

The pics here are

1) cheese in brine
2) cheese on drying rack
3) salted cheese after 6 days of drying on rack to develop rind
4) vac bagged and ready for aging (6 months)

 

[Yooper]

That looks fantastic!

 

[Pappers_]

That does look good. I've never made cheese, any resources that you would suggest for a neophyte?

 

[passedpawn]

That does look good. I've never made cheese, any resources that you would suggest for a neophyte?

By far the best resource I've found is a commercial supplier of cheesemaking supplies. They have tons of information, recipes, how-to's, etc.

New England Cheesemaking Supplies

The most active forum for cheesemaking seems to be cheeseforum. They have an assortment of wiki and faqs, and a forum just like this one, but not very active. The people who do post there, though, seem to be obsessed enthusiasts, so there is plenty to learn there. I have been hanging out there myself.

Cheeseforum

The nice thing about cheese is the main ingredient is milk, which you can get at the grocery store. You must also have rennet, which you should buy online, but a little will last you a while. That's about it.

Cheesemaking is like homebrewing: you can start out easy, mess around, make some mediocre stuff. And you can dive into the rabbit hole and go as deep as you want. For example, aging cheese involves adding a bacterial culture to the cheese when you make it, then letting that culture work on the cheese for months (at fermentation temps!). There are a bunch of cultures available, just like the yeasts in brewing. Here's the cheesemaker's equivelent of Wyeast:

Get Culture cheese culture supply

These cultures ferment the cheese and give it various flavors (e.g., that sharp tang in aged cheddar). One culture, (Proprionic Shermanii), is used in swiss cheese recipes to produce those characteristic holes.

A Stilton blue cheese recipe includes a particular mold (penecillium roqueforti) to create the characteristic blue veins in the cheese. The mold is added to the cheese and, after some time, a knitting needle is used to poke many holes into the cheese. This introduction of O2 causes the mold to bloom in the cheese.

Unlike brewing, its very common to mix cultures to get certain benefits from each (acid production, flavor contribution, aesthetics). The good thing is that there are a lot of recipes out there to try.

 

[Pappers_]

Thanks!

 

[bratrules]

Nice work!! am also a avid cheese maker. Am planing a clothbound cheddar soon. Hey can i ask why you brined your cheddar instead of adding salt to the curds?

 

[passedpawn]

Nice work!! am also a avid cheese maker. Am planing a clothbound cheddar soon. Hey can i ask why you brined your cheddar instead of adding salt to the curds?

I did both. I added salt to the curds for flavor, and I brined to inhibit surface mold.

I really don't know what I'm doing. I just left port, been at sea for a short time. I'll be a salty dog some day.

I'm finishing a cheese at this moment, a cotswold, wish me luck. About to remove the curds from the pot.

 

[kaconga]

Awesome! Have a quick question about this. I am lactose intolerant but can have any (commercial) cheese that is aged 6+ months no issues. Is this due to bacteria eating the lactose or is it a different reaction? I have considered leaping into cheese making but that has held me back a bit since I don't know if I would make something I could enjoy personally.

 

[passedpawn]

Awesome! Have a quick question about this. I am lactose intolerant but can have any (commercial) cheese that is aged 6+ months no issues. Is this due to bacteria eating the lactose or is it a different reaction? I have considered leaping into cheese making but that has held me back a bit since I don't know if I would make something I could enjoy personally.

I don't have any idea about your sensitivity. But if you want to make cheese that stores for 6 months and beyond, no problem. I've been making hard cheeses, like chedddar, and they store great for long periods of time. Get started!

 

[Melana]

Wow that is fantastic. What do you use for milk?

 

[passedpawn]

Wow that is fantastic. What do you use for milk?

So far all I have been able to get is homogenized / pasteurized (H/P) milk. I'd love to get some raw milk, or at least non-homogenized. But I'm doing alright without that, so not in a hurry.

The last cheese I made (cotswold, just created a thread) I added some heavy cream to it. We'll see what that produces.

There's a local farm that produces goat milk. I love cheese made from goat's milk. They sell at a farmer's market on Saturdays, but I haven't been able to get down there yet. Have you had goat cheese Melana?

 

[thatjonguy]

Oh yay...another hobby. Great.

 

[Melana]

So far all I have been able to get is homogenized / pasteurized (H/P) milk. I'd love to get some raw milk, or at least non-homogenized. But I'm doing alright without that, so not in a hurry.

The last cheese I made (cotswold, just created a thread) I added some heavy cream to it. We'll see what that produces.

There's a local farm that produces goat milk. I love cheese made from goat's milk. They sell at a farmer's market on Saturdays, but I haven't been able to get down there yet. Have you had goat cheese Melana?

Goat cheese is not something that i care for... i just don't. i love most cheese except for goat.

 

[passedpawn]

I cut into this cheddar last night. WOW. It was very cheddar-like, and sharp. I didn't think it would get sharp this quick. I'll will take pics and get a shot of the cut cheese.

It was a little dry. I think I'm letting the cheese get too acidic during the make. I'm starting to monitor the pH now.